What's the best bit of the UN? No 2: the ICC

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/07/best-bit-un-icc-international-criminal-court

Version 0 of 1.

The international criminal court (ICC), created under UN security council auspices in 2002, has been the subject of political controversy throughout its short history and has been criticised over its perceived bias against Africa. The court, based in The Hague, has also been attacked over its limited number of successful prosecutions – two convictions, both of Congolese warlords, in 13 years – and over the cost of its operations, estimated at $1bn.

But supporters say the court has laboured under serious handicaps from its inception. Powerful international actors, such as the US, China and Russia, are not state parties to the treaty of Rome, which established the legal basis for the court in 1998. They continue to reject its jurisdiction over their territory and citizens. The court has also been thwarted by the refusal of some member countries to follow its injunctions. The most recent instance was South Africa’s decision not to detain Omar al-Bashir, Sudan’s president, who was visiting the country and is wanted by the ICC for genocide and other crimes.

In all, 123 countries have ratified the treaty of Rome, rendering them state parties, while 31 are signatories but have not ratified the treaty. Even countries that do not acknowledge the court, such as Israel, have legal obligations to cooperate with it in some circumstances, stemming from their UN membership andinternational law, including the Geneva conventions. But the court lacks teeth to enforce its will. Recent Palestinian attempts, for example, to use the ICC to expose illegal Israeli settler actions in the occupied territories have been flatly rejected by Israel’s government. The US, Russia and China also routinely withhold cooperation with the ICC.

Yet at the same time, the US is broadly supportive of ICC action against foreign nationals of whom it disapproves, such as Bashir and Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad. This has led to accusations of double standards, not least following the US-British invasion of Iraq in 2003 and Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Critics say George W Bush, Tony Blair and Vladimir Putin, among others, should undergo official investigation for war crimes.

The ICC prosecutor’s office has launched nine official investigations since 2002, all in Africa – in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Central African Republic (two), Libya, Kenya, Darfur (Sudan), Ivory Coast and Mali. It has indicted 36 individuals including Sudan’s Bashir, Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, and the former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo. The Kenyatta case fell through. Only Gbagbo is certain to face trial, in November this year. Even here, claims that the ICC has mishandled the case have cast doubt on the prosecution’s prospects.

The ICC denies anti-African bias. Fatou Bensouda, the chief prosecutor, said in a recent interview that the ICC had benefited Africa. “The ICC is working with Africa, and working for African victims,” she said.